Saving Grace (21 page)

She frowned wondering when he would move along. 

“Dude,” she said softly to no one in particular.  “Take your cigarette down the road.”  She caught her breath, wondering if it could be the same person who took their towels.

Don’t be silly, Grace.  A lot of people smoke. 

Grace narrowed her eyes, wondering who the stranger was and why he was lingering right in front of them.  It was as if he was blocking their view of the shore on purpose, which was a bit unsettling.  What she didn’t know was that Burke was of the same mind, but didn’t want to alarm her. 

Burke squinted at the stranger, who stood with his back to them.  It was rare to see someone in street clothes on the shore, when most were surfing or jogging.  This stranger, whoever he was, wasn’t dressed for the beach.

He had the same intrigue when he saw Grace on that first day, as she sat on his beach, except today, instead of curiosity; his gut was screaming at him that something wasn’t right.

“Stay here.”  He unwound his legs from hers and lifted to stand. 

“Is everything okay?”  The fact that he felt the need to approach him, just confirmed her suspicions.

“Yeah.” He smiled warmly into her eyes, trying to ease the concern he saw in them. “Don’t worry.  I just want to see if he’s lost.”

Zach inhaled one last puff from his cigarette, and dropped it in the sand.  When he turned to face the couple, he saw Burke’s stare bearing down on him from across the short beach, which sat behind Burke’s home.  He kicked some sand over his cigarette, smirked in their direction, and walked away before Burke could exit through his back gate.

As Burke watched the stranger leave, he wondered if he should follow him but had no real reason to.  Even though his gut was sending him all kinds of warning signs, this man had done nothing wrong. Instead, he continued on the path to where the stranger had been standing, finding another cigarette, partially covered with sand. 

He squinted down at it, noticing it was identical to the one he found by his gate.  It had the same distinctive green ring around the filter. 

He scanned the beach, only to see an empty shoreline. 

What would you do? Run after him? 
He chastised himself.  He let out a sigh, as his gut twisted. He couldn’t prove it, but he felt whoever the stranger was – he’d not only taken their towels, but was now resorting to stalking them.

Not wanting to alarm Grace, he raised his arm to wave at her with a big smile.  He pinched the cigarette between his fingers, picked up a few shells from the beach, and jogged back up to his house.

“I guess he found his way to wherever he was going.”  He smiled and slipped the cigarette onto the window ledge behind where they sat.

“Okay.”  Grace pursed her lips.  She could tell there was something he wasn’t telling her. 

“I picked up some shells for you.”  He sat down, hoping she didn’t question him further.

Grace smiled at the tiny pink and white shells, which lay between grains of sand in his hand. 

“Pretty … thank you.”  She bit her lip, wondering what else was going through his mind.  She knew him enough by now to know that something was bothering him.  She smiled, and rolled the shells between her fingers.  “They’re so tiny.” 

Burke sat down with a sigh of relief.  He had hoped the shells would be the perfect diversion.

“So? Did you get a good look at him?”  She stared him down. 

“Who?”

“That guy.  What do you mean who?  You know as well as I do – it was weird.  And after the other night with the stolen towels and the cigarettes…”

“Hey, I said don’t worry.  I didn’t get a good look at him, but I am sure it’s nothing to worry about.”  He took her face into his hands and drew her in for a small kiss.

Grace drew her face back when she realized his hands smelled like smoke.  She gently took his hand in her and lifted it to her nose. 

“Cigarettes?”  Her eyes squinted.

He shrugged.  “Yeah, you saw him smoking.”

“Why would you pick it up?”

“I was just cleaning up the beach. I hate litter.” 

He wasn’t lying.  He did hate litter.  He hoped it would be enough of an explanation.

“Okay.”  Grace let it go. 

She stared off in the direction where the stranger had disappeared.  She would believe him on this one.  She wouldn’t worry. 

Except after her history, it was hard not too.  And after seeing that man on the beach, she felt like there was a rock in her stomach … only she wasn’t sure why.

She leaned back into Burke and breathed him in.  She wouldn’t worry.  She wouldn’t worry.  She repeated her new mantra over and over in efforts to let go of the uneasy feeling that was trying to creep its way in.

Chapter 26

Hygiene hadn’t been a top priority since Zach found Grace.  Since his plan was to survey her every move - his only thought was to arrive at dawn and stay as long as he could without getting caught.

Each night, as he returned back to his hotel, he’d give another false report to Mr. Aundine via email and sleep just long enough to recharge.  Although showering the next morning would have been okay, it wasn’t always on the agenda.

Each morning, the urgency to start over in hopes of getting Grace alone was stronger than the need for a shower.  Besides, he knew he wouldn’t run in to anyone on the beach that’d care. 

As he looked at his reflection – he ran his hand over the ever-thickening stubble he’d obtained along his jaw line.  He liked the rough beard he’d grown, but knew that he would have to clean it up a bit for the next phase of his plan.

Now that he was planning to dig up information on Grace’s new boyfriend, he needed to be approachable to the neighbors.  In order to execute this next, Zach needed to appear as clean cut as possible.

“I don’t want to get rid of all of it though.” He angled his chin, continuing to rub a hand along his face. 

The last thing he needed was a neighbor to doubt his story and call the police.  And as far as the Aundine’s were concerned, Grace was still missing in action without leads from either the police or him.

The police don’t have much of a chance of finding her if she keeps up the life of a beach bum.  She’s not going anywhere that would gain her any visibility. 

For this fact alone, Zach felt he had the time he needed to take Grace from her happy home without anyone suspecting a thing.

Although he didn’t feel time was a factor, he still felt a sense of urgency.  Every day that passed was just one more day wasted, and one less day he got his revenge.

After Zach had showered, he trimmed his facial hair to reveal a patch that lay just around his lip and chin.  He stroked it in the mirror, with approval, before donning a pair of Levi’s and a short sleeved, dark button-down shirt. 

Before leaving, he gave himself a once over in the mirror and liked what he saw.  He looked official, almost as if he were part of an agency of some sort. 

He’d gotten used to most of the neighbor’s comings and goings in his short time here in the neighborhood, knew that most were younger couples, except in the house across the street from Grace, which housed a retired oriental lady, who rarely went out.

After the short drive, he parked his car around the corner in the rental’s driveway, and clipped a few blank papers into his clipboard.

With everything in order, to the best of his ability, he rounded the corner to knock on the front door of the house, which sat across from where Grace stayed.

Just outside the front door, he had to navigate his way to knock, as it was littered with flip-flops and sandals, in various sizes and colors.  He stepped through the menagerie of shoes, and tapped on the door lightly.  The breeze flowed through her small courtyard, bringing with it the smell of the bougainvilleas that wound their way up her lattice.

“Coming!”  The older woman yelled through the door and cracked it open, peeking at Zach from inside. 

“Oh, who’r you?”  She asked in broken English.

“Hi, um.  I’m part of the local neighborhood group.  Some say they’ve seen some kids walking the streets and beach, who look like they don’t belong.  Have you noticed anything out of place?”  Zach swallowed, hoping she’d believe his cover story.

              The older woman opened her front door wide and stepped into view, leaving her screen door locked in place.  She was no more than four foot five, and her skin was smooth, with the exception of wrinkles that lay around her almond eyes.

              She narrowed them, which accented the wrinkles around her eyes, and shook her head.

“No, just the occasional skateboarder…” She pointed toward the street, and continued.  “Down the road, but that’s nothing unusual. Who … you say you are?”

Zach skirted around the question by saying, “I’m just going from door to door to help the police put together details.”

That must have been enough for her because she shrugged, saying, “Okay.”

Zach’s heart sped up, hoping the next part of their conversation gave him what he needed.

“I’ve tried to go across to your neighbor, what was his name again?”

Her eyes lit up.  “Oh, Mr. Burke.  He’s a nice man.  He would be able to tell you more – he keeps an eye out for most of us.  He’s been in the Marines you know.  Strong guy.”

Zach watched her form a fist and tighten her biceps, when describing Burke.  He nodded, pretending to write something on his paperwork.  “That’s right… Burke.  Forgot how to spell that.”

“It’s with an ‘e’ on the end.  But I’m not sure that’s his first name … just a nickname.  He told me what his name was once. But it was a long time ago … can’t remember like I used to.”  The old lady tapped her temple and smiled, before saying, “But I like his new lady friend.  She’s nice looking too, yeah?”

Zach faked a smile, and continued to pretend to make notes on his chart.  “Thanks you’ve been a great help.” 

He pulled out his smart phone, in effort to make the old lady think he was pulling up neighborhood records.

Great. There goes an Internet search for Burke.  She didn’t even know his real name. 

Zach had already tried his white pages app on his smart phone, by typing in the address, where Grace was staying but it pulled up a Chet Thomas … not a Burke anything.

He looked up from his phone to the lady through the screen door.  “My records show a Chet as the primary listing.  Think that’s his first name?”

“Oh no.  Dat’s the owner of da property.  He lives in the main house with his wife.  Mr. Burke just takes care of it all for him.”

“Oh, okay. Well then I’ll try back then when he’s home.”  Zach’s mind started clicking, already formulating a plan.  “Do you by chance have a personal number for him, so I could call and schedule a time?  No one answered the home line.”

“Oh, no.  He checks on my every day.  No need for a phone.”  The older woman’s eyes narrowed.  “Who are you with again?” 

“Mahalo.  You’ve been a big help.”  Zach spun around to approach the narrow two-lane road, which separated her house from where Grace was staying.

He focused on the home, where Grace had been sleeping, contemplating his next move when she and Burke drove up into their carport.  Without much time to hide his face, he swiftly grabbed the brim of his ball cap and pulled it tightly over his forehead giving him cover from their curious stares.

He turned his back to their car and to the old woman, who still watched him from her doorway, and half waved hoping he didn’t seem out of place.  From his peripheral view he could see Grace’s long legs extend from the car.  Once he was sure their attention wasn’t on him any longer, he turned to take them in as Grace retrieved a few bags from the back seat before running inside. 

“I’ll get these on the grill.”  She yelled back to Burke, as he unloaded a few supplies from his trunk. 

Burke nodded, and set the supplies down inside the carport, just in front of his car, before jogging up to the house to join her inside.

Zach narrowed his eyes as he watched Burke shut his front door, leaving his gear outside for anyone to take. He quickly jogged across the road toward Burke’s home and did a double take to make sure no one was watching, before walking under the carport awning. 

He stared down at the paint supplies sitting on the cement, debating on what to do. 

His mission was clear … to find a time to take Grace when Burke wasn’t there to protect her.  But there wasn’t any harm in messing with the guy a little beforehand.  In fact, he kind of liked the idea.